CONTEMPT ALLEGED

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20186, 2 March 1940, Page 13

CONTEMPT ALLEGED

BANKRUPT BROTHERS PUBLIC EXAMINATION MONEY SAID TO BE BURIED (Per Press Association.) INVERCARGILL, this day. Alleging wilful prevarication on the part of Luke Cody, one of .four brothers whose public examination in bankruptcy began in the Supreme Court, Invercargill, before Mr. Justice Kennedy, Mr. H. J. Macalister moved that Cody be committed for contempt of court.

The contempt alleged was that bankrupt refused to disclose the whereabouts of 71 sacks of grass' seed and the names of the" persons with whom he arranged that they should be taken from -the firm where they were stocked. His Honour adjourned the hearing of the motion. Mr. Macalister appeared for the official assignee and various creditors, and questioned bankrupt on several matters connected with the disposal of stock and the disappearance of moneys. Bankrupt had to be reminded several times by His Honour to answer questions truthfully, and was once reminded that he could be prosecuted for alleged perjury.

The public examination of Luke Cody was adjourned and Mr. Macalister proceeded to examine another brother, John Cody. Chief interest in the case was the disappearance of £SOO, which bankrupt said he had buried in the ground, but cauld not remember where. His examination was also adjourned. “Few Drinks and Gamble” Lawrence Cody, the third member of the partnership, said he was in the North Island when he heard he had been adjudged bankrupt. He did not know his brother John had been arrested till he returned to Southland. He admitted being in the habit of having “a few drinks and a bit of a gamble.” Mr. Macalister asked the whereabouts of £750 in cash shown in Lawrence Cody’s statement. Cody said he spent a good bit <of it. How much have you got left? —£150. Have you got it with you?—No. Where is it?—lt’s somewhere. I’ve got it in a safe place. You refuse to tell the court where it is?—l couldn’t very well say. I would have to see if it was there. It is buried in the ground. Well, where did you put it? —In the ground, under the earth. Yes, but where? Are you going to tell the court now where it is?—l can’t very well describe the place. Ori whose property is it? —It’s on the side of the road on the highway up Waikouaiti way. The examination of Lawrence and Michael Cody was completed and the public examinations were adjoured. Soon after the adjournment the bankrupts were arrested and charged in the Magistrate’s Court with breaches of the Bankruptcy Act. They were remanded on substantial baii.